In fact, construction contractors make up around 30% of the UK's top thirty companies. Almost all the firms in the construction industry (92%) are small and a third of the workforce is self-employed (37%).

So you can see that there are lots of opportunities to work in all sorts of companies and many construction workers get to travel a lot and see the world. Although most of the workers in construction (55%) are involved in manual jobs, there are also plenty of chances to work in management and even on the board of directors!

Despite the recession, the construction sector did better than hoped last year and from 2013 the industry is expected to start to recover and even grow by 6.2% by the end of 2015.

Nearly 43,000 new entrants will be needed every year, between now and 2015, for new construction projects and to cover the natural flow of workers in and out of the industry.

All these changes mean that there will be lots of chances for you work in all sorts of jobs, countries, companies and even for yourself if you want to.

Number of workers needed

Craft Occupation	2011 - 2015
Wood trade and interior fit out	6,080
Bricklayers	2,130
Building Envelope Specialists	1,620
Painters and Decorators	3,450
Plasterers and dry liners	1,220
Roofers	570
Floorers	1,500
Glaziers	1,240
Scaffolders	620
Specialist Building Operatives e.g. Ceiling fixers, Pipe layer, Thermal insulation fitter	1,340
Plant Operatives	1,560
Plant Mechanics/Fitters	1,140
Steel Erectors/Structural	960
Labourers	3,870
Electrical Trades and Installation	1,670
Plumbing and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Trades	1,180
Civil Engineering Operatives	490

Source - Construction Skills Network, Experian